Can We Have Renunciation With Bodhicitta?

Question: If we as sentient beings in this Samsara do not renounce, can we achieve Bodhicitta [i.e. aspiration to guide one and all to Buddhahood]?

Answer: I understand renouncing to mean developing Renunciation [of greed, hatred and delusion, to depart from Samsara] and not merely joining the monastic order. Some people have the idea that Renunciation and Bodhicitta are two opposite things. You either choose to emphasize on Renunciation to liberate yourself or you choose Bodhicitta to liberate others. One aspires for faster emancipation, liberation in this very life to get out of Samsara as fast as possible. The other emphasizes on the need to help others. So they are ‘like’ two opposite things.

In truth, there can be no Bodhicitta without Renunciation. In fact, Bodhicitta and Renunciation have something in common. They start from the wish to avoid suffering, to get rid of suffering altogether. In Renunciation, the emphasis is on doing so for oneself; in Bodhicitta, Renunciation is expanded to a wider scope covering other sentient beings as well. So, without Renunciation, one cannot truly develop Bodhicitta. Bodhicitta builds upon Renunciation. They are not two opposite things.